Contents

Summary

Rukia decides to go shopping.

In the darkness, Rukia Kuchiki sits atop a building in Karakura Town, holding up and staring at a lighter-like device with four little lights on it. The first three lights are out while the last one flashes repeatedly causing the Shinigami to state that there is not much of something left inside it. Depressed, she then turns her attention to her hand and, after testing her joints several times, comments that there is not much there either and decides that it's time for her to go shopping.

Ichigo discovers Rukia is absent from his closet.

Ichigo, with a plate of Japanese rice balls in his hand, enters his bedroom and knocks on his closet door. While knocking, he calls out that he has brought breakfast, assuming Rukia is inside. He requests that she come out before losing his patience, swearing, before throwing the door open to yell at her. However, his expression soon becomes one of confusion when he notices that her pajamas have been folded neatly and that Rukia is nowhere to be found. Ichigo glares around his room for a moment, wondering where she could have gone before proceeding to eat one of her rice balls as he waits.

Isshin wonders aloud about his son's secretive activities in his room.

Downstairs both Yuzu Kurosaki and Karin Kurosaki sit at the table eating their breakfast. Yuzu comments on Ichigo's odd behavior recently and how he has been taking more food and sneaking back to his room with it. Karin remains apathetic, as Isshin Kurosaki starts to loudly wonder if Ichigo's actions are due to his sensitive age of fifteen. He also insists that there is only one thing youths Ichigo's age do at that age when they hide in their room. Having heard his words, Ichigo arrives and round-kicks his father to the face, telling him to stop being perverted. Isshin tells him it's his job as a father to wonder about his teenage child. The two get into a tussle, as Yuzu reminds them their food is getting cold. Still eating, Karin states that it's a peaceful morning.

Jinta punishes Ururu.

Outside a store, called the Urahara Shop, two youngsters are doing their chores outside the door, sweeping. The girl, Ururu Tsumugiya, is dutifully taking care of the sweeping while the boy, Jinta Hanakari, is messing around, pretending to be a baseball star. Ururu reminds Jinta that if they don't do their jobs, Tessai Tsukabishi will be angry with them. Jinta behaves as though he is not afraid of Tessai, something Ururu denies, causing him to punish her by rubbing his broom into her hair angrily. He declares that she is a lower level than he, but she reminds him that she is actually three years older than him. The broom is taken from Jinta's hand and he angrily turns to confront the culprit, who turns out to be Rukia.

Rukia observes that Jinta, whom she calls "Shorty" will never change his behavior before asking if his manager was in. Jinta scowls as he welcomes her back before opening the door and letting her into the store. A muscular man, Tessai, carrying a number of boxes scolds him, saying that it is not time to open yet. He then notices Rukia, and tells her to wait a minute while he wakes the manager. An oddly dressed man walks up behind Tessai and says that it is too bad, as he is already awake. He then lets out a big yawn and puts on his sandals. Rubbing his eyes with one hand and the other in his pocket, he greets everybody. He tells Rukia that they just got stock from “there” yesterday. Rukia buys the cheapest (D-rank) spare fuel rod for her spirit communicator, and 60 bottles of Soma Fixers.

Ururu presents Rukia with her order.

The man, Kisuke Urahara, warns her that excessive use of Soma Fixers to align her soul with the faux body will result in hell when she leaves it. Rukia acknowledges this, but mentions that lately, her integration with the faux body has been poor, and sometimes it is hard for her to even move. Urahara happily asks if she would like a check up at a good deal, but Rukia refuses, and asks if the item she had ordered had arrived. Urahara says that it has, and sends Ururu to the storeroom to fetch it, saying that it is in a box which says “new goods”. Looking around the box-filled storeroom, she spots the box she wants and opens it to retrieve the item inside. Rukia unwraps the item and asks Urahara if this was the only kind he could get. Urahara scratches his neck and replies that even getting this was hard as it is the second most popular. He then tells Rukia that she cannot pretend forever.

Ichigo is given the Soul Candy.

Rukia arrives in class late and greets everyone sweetly, saying that she is late due to family matters. She then asks Ichigo if he has a moment, but Ichigo says that if she has anything to say, to say so then and there. However, he is punched in the stomach and dragged away by Rukia, who exclaims that he needs to see the nurse. Their classmates stare after them, asking themselves if Rukia had punched Ichigo or not. On the rooftop, Rukia hands Ichigo the item she bought today, Gikongan - a medicine that forcibly removes the soul from the body and puts in a fake one. She tells him to use it if he encounters a Hollow when she is not around. Ichigo asks why it is labeled “Soul Candy”, and Rukia indignantly replies that the Shinigami Women's Association complained that the name Gikongan wasn't cute, and had it changed. Ichigo then asks why the tube has a duck’s head on it, and Rukia says that even she wanted the most popular, “Chappy the Rabbit” too. Ichigo insults her for that, and she steps on his head as punishment.

Ichigo questions the use of the Artificial Soul.

She then instructs him to try one, and he does so, pressing the duck’s head so that a green pill is ejected into his mouth. True enough, he sways a bit, then his Shinigami self appears. Ichigo appears surprised, and Rukia tells him that there is now a temporary soul in his body so that no one will realize that he has left. The body moves and greets them, saying that “Ichigo's” favorite phrase is “Early to bed, early to rise”. As the real Ichigo demands to know how that “Ichigo” is anything like him, Rukia's phone begins to beep. She drags a complaining Ichigo away as the body waves at them and tells them to leave it all to him.

Jinta berates Ururu.

Urahara wanders into his storeroom and notices the opened box on the floor. Jinta yells at Ururu, asking her to read what it says on the box. She mistakes what she sees for “Infester Goods”. Jinta tells her that it is “Inferior Goods”, and that she has just sold that to a customer. Ururu sighs and hangs her head, and Jinta starts to pull on her bangs, but is stopped by Urahara. Tessai looks at a piece of paper and says that the Gikongan would bring trouble, and Urahara agrees, saying that they had better take care of it immediately, as they know not what “he” might do.

"Ichigo" leaps over a teacher.

Indeed, Ichigo's temporary soul stretches his muscles, then experiments with his new body by kicking in a wall. A teacher comes along and recognizes “Ichigo” due to his unique hair, and asks “Ichigo” what he has just done. “Ichigo” walks toward the teacher, then jumps right over his head, landing on a roof a distance away with great ease. The teacher stares after “Ichigo”, who jumps away gleefully. The lunch bell rings and Orihime Inoue cheers happily. Tatsuki Arisawa, who does not think lunch is such an important event, is told by Orihime that a healthy young high school girl comes to school specially to eat lunch. She pulls out a large loaf of bread and a can of sweetbean paste and asks Tatsuki what she has brought for lunch. Tatsuki ruffles Orihime's hair and says that she eats a normal lunch.

Chizuru offers to eat lunch with Orihime.

Another of their friends, Chizuru Honshō, asks them if she can eat at their table, and Orihime, who is eating her bread whole and smiling with crumbs on her cheeks, agrees. Chizuru gives Orihime a big hug, exclaiming that Orihime's way of eating is so cute. Suddenly, “Ichigo” jumps up to class from the first story, shocking many of his classmates. The real Ichigo quickly finishes up the Hollow and says that he has a bad feeling.

"Ichigo" flirts with Orihime.

True enough, “Ichigo” is standing on the window sill, his friends staring and asking how he got there. He tells them that he jumped up, though many of them do not buy his story. He is very pleased that all of them, guys and girls, are looking at him. He stares at the girls and comments that they are all very hot and above average. He notices Orihime and her assets and goes up to her, strokes her hair, and in a very gentlemanly manner, kisses her hand. Tatsuki immediately pulls him away, asking him if he knows what he is doing. “Ichigo” looks at her and says that upon looking closer, she actually is pretty cute.

Tatsuki attacks "Ichigo" with a desk.

Rukia asks Ichigo why he is rushing back to class, as the temporary soul is definitely alright. Ichigo has his doubts, and they are confirmed when they hear screams coming from their classroom. A table flies out the window and Rukia decides that he is right and that they had better return quickly. It is Tatsuki who is flinging tables at “Ichigo”, as he had just kissed her on the cheek. Rukia walks into the classroom and stops the fight, and the panicked “Ichigo” runs to the window. Rukia shouts for Ichigo, and the real Ichigo jumps up to the window, cornering the temporary soul, informing him that he has nowhere to run.

Ichigo is kicked repeatedly by the soul in his own body.

Glancing back and forth between Ichigo and Rukia, the temporary soul realizes he must fight to get away and then begins to rain down on Ichigo a great number of kicks. All their classmates see, however, to them it appears as if “Ichigo” is kicking the air repeatedly. As “Ichigo” sends Ichigo flying into some tables with a kick, their alarmed classmates only see some sort of force push back all the tables. Orihime stares curiously as a table is lifted by invisible hands, and “Ichigo” smiles at Rukia and jumps out of the window, free-falling down to the ground floor. Ichigo and Rukia stare after him, who runs away at extremely high speed. Rukia's eyes widen as she tells herself that it cannot be what she is thinking. She changes her mind as she continues to watch. He is actually a Mod-Soul.

Orihime insists that her suitor was not really Ichigo.

Ichigo jumps down out the window, and Rukia runs out of the classroom, their classmates watching her. A flaming Tatsuki declares that she will not let Ichigo off, and Chizuru tries to “comfort” Orihime, who stares out the window. Orihime tells them both that the guy earlier was not Ichigo. Meanwhile, Rukia and Ichigo have arrived at a dilapidated house, but have lost sight of “Ichigo”. Rukia comments that he has a moratorium, and Ichigo retorts that it isn't the time for incomprehensible jokes. “Ichigo” has to be caught for using his body and kissing Tatsuki and Orihime. Rukia does not see why he is so agitated, because, to her, kisses are merely greetings, and in a book she was reading, much more was happening. Ichigo tells her not to compare the two, as kissing an ordinary classmate is a very serious thing, and asks her what sort of books she reads. He gives a wail of despair and complains that the image he took years to build up is gone. Rukia is surprised that he had an “image”.

Rukia explains about Operation Spearhead.

Ichigo then asks her about the temporary soul being a “modified soul”, and she explains that in Soul Society, there was a plan called “Spearhead”. In it, souls specialized for Hollow vanquishing were injected into soulless dead bodies. These souls, or Mod-Souls, would endow some part of the body with superhuman powers. Rukia uses her crude drawings once again, this time as an animation (flip-book style), to explain to Ichigo. Ichigo understands what she means, but comments that with her drawings, the moment’s tension is gone, earning him red spirals on his cheeks and a smack. Rukia continues, saying that the plan was ditched and all Mod-Souls ordered to be destroyed due to the inhumanity of making dead bodies fight. Wiping off the spirals on his cheeks, Ichigo asks if that means Mod-Souls were created and destroyed at the convenience of Soul Society, and asks if she is satisfied with that. She says that is not the question – the scrapping of Mod-Souls was one of Soul Society's laws, which are set up to protect Human souls. They then set off, running around the town trying to find and hence retrieve Ichigo's body.

"Ichigo" watches as one of the kids delete their character.

As he runs, Ichigo wonders how the temporary soul feels: being created and then ordered to be destroyed against his will, then surviving and finding a body and yet having to run away. However, contrary to what Ichigo thinks, “Ichigo” is having a great deal of fun jumping along fences and jumping over people’s heads and seeking attention. He says that he likes having powers that attract attention, although it is said that there are Mod-Souls with more power. Leaping off a fence, he notices three school children sitting behind a store room playing video games and decides to go see what they are doing. He lands lightly on the fence behind them, and watches as they, unaware of his presence, complain about P.E. lessons.

Ichigo protects the children from "Ichigo".

One of the boys then exclaims that his character in the video game is not performing up to standard. “Ichigo's” ears prick up as he hears the boy say that he will just delete the character, and does so, adding that he will just make a better one.

“Ichigo” grips the fencing so hard it starts to break, and the boys turn to look at him. He gets off the fence and looks very angry as he tries to kick the children. His kick is stopped mid-air by the real Ichigo, and he jumps away from Ichigo and the two face-off.